I sold my Prado to my parents, but did a couple of extra modifications before handing it over. This thread is my last contribution to this forum, so I also wanted to say "thanks!" - it's been a great community to be a part of and an excellent resource for the Prado! Two thumbs up!
SUMMARY
The car already has a compressor and dual battery system (as per this thread). My parents tow a camper around, so they needed an Anderson plug at the tow bar and an electric trailer braking system. They also use the large 7-pin round trailer plug, plus it made more sense to have the compressor outlet at the rear of the car so that it can reach the camper tyres. I should note that it probably took longer because I was modifying an existing system, rather than doing it all from scratch.
Components
Redarc Tow Pro Elite Kit
50Amp Anderson Plug
50Amp MAnual Reset Circuit Breaker
6B&S (~13.5mm˛) Twin Cable
8B&S (~8mm˛) Twin Cable
13B&S (~2.9mm˛) Twin Cable
Cable Lugs
10mm Air Hose
18mm Rubber-lined Hose Saddles
Air-On-Board Compressor Dash Switch
Aluminium Angle Section
16 Beers
Anderson Plug
The cable runs from the auxiliary battery to the passenger side of the fire-wall, then along the door sills to the compartment where the jack is stored. I pulled apart a small section around the third row seats and found a fairly accesssible grommet to get the cable out to the tow bar. I had to do a bit of tricky manipulation of the cable to make it sit nicely in the door sill channels to get it to work, but got there in the end. Getting the cable to the third row was easy. Once you have the second row sill out, the door seal is freely removed. I peeled a bit of that back and was very easily able to push a tongue through to the third row cup holder. At the battery end, I had to doctor up a bracket for the extra switch. If I had my time again, I probably would have made up a bus bar to make it all a bit neater. This time, rather than hiring the hex crimpers, I bought them. Cost me $150 (Utilux #22 Crimps).
Tow Pro Elite
Like many others, I mounted the Tow Pro under the dash, but I didn't trust the double-sided tape to last forever, so I wedged a block of form-ply in the gap (perfect fit) and screwed it in. I powered the Tow Pro from the main battery, via an auto-reset circuit breaker. 8B&S twin cable. Probably overkill. I ran the 13B&S cable to the jack compartment and terminated to the 12V trailer brake wire (loose blue wire) and to the car's brake light wire (red wire with black trace). The reason I chose to take the signal from the brake light rather than from the purple brake pedal wire is because I don't think stability/traction control brake signals would be applied through the purple wire. I can't imagine insurance companies being too cooperative if they found that a trailer brake system circumvented safety braking systems. Also, I stumbled across this article, which states to use a diode to prevent back-feeding power into the vehicle from the trailer braking system. This is something I think should be installed if wire in at the pedal too. I only ever use 1N4007 diodes. I haven't found a practical use for smaller diodes when this one will do the trick too... Putting the dial in the centre console seemed like a no-brainer to me. I'd want to see what the trailer brake is doing while I'm driving, plus I think it needs to be easily reachable without fumbling blindly.
I had to make up a new bracket to mount the 50A breaker for the Anderson plug.
I've put the Tow Pro's 30A auto-reset breaker after the isolator breaker so that if the isolator is tripped, it'll disable ALL aftermarket electrics. It's highly unlikely to trip on it's own.
The Tow Pro mounted behind the glove box
The Tow Pro dial - actually dead straight but the pic doesn't do that justice
SUMMARY
The car already has a compressor and dual battery system (as per this thread). My parents tow a camper around, so they needed an Anderson plug at the tow bar and an electric trailer braking system. They also use the large 7-pin round trailer plug, plus it made more sense to have the compressor outlet at the rear of the car so that it can reach the camper tyres. I should note that it probably took longer because I was modifying an existing system, rather than doing it all from scratch.
Components
Redarc Tow Pro Elite Kit
50Amp Anderson Plug
50Amp MAnual Reset Circuit Breaker
6B&S (~13.5mm˛) Twin Cable
8B&S (~8mm˛) Twin Cable
13B&S (~2.9mm˛) Twin Cable
Cable Lugs
10mm Air Hose
18mm Rubber-lined Hose Saddles
Air-On-Board Compressor Dash Switch
Aluminium Angle Section
16 Beers
Anderson Plug
The cable runs from the auxiliary battery to the passenger side of the fire-wall, then along the door sills to the compartment where the jack is stored. I pulled apart a small section around the third row seats and found a fairly accesssible grommet to get the cable out to the tow bar. I had to do a bit of tricky manipulation of the cable to make it sit nicely in the door sill channels to get it to work, but got there in the end. Getting the cable to the third row was easy. Once you have the second row sill out, the door seal is freely removed. I peeled a bit of that back and was very easily able to push a tongue through to the third row cup holder. At the battery end, I had to doctor up a bracket for the extra switch. If I had my time again, I probably would have made up a bus bar to make it all a bit neater. This time, rather than hiring the hex crimpers, I bought them. Cost me $150 (Utilux #22 Crimps).
Tow Pro Elite
Like many others, I mounted the Tow Pro under the dash, but I didn't trust the double-sided tape to last forever, so I wedged a block of form-ply in the gap (perfect fit) and screwed it in. I powered the Tow Pro from the main battery, via an auto-reset circuit breaker. 8B&S twin cable. Probably overkill. I ran the 13B&S cable to the jack compartment and terminated to the 12V trailer brake wire (loose blue wire) and to the car's brake light wire (red wire with black trace). The reason I chose to take the signal from the brake light rather than from the purple brake pedal wire is because I don't think stability/traction control brake signals would be applied through the purple wire. I can't imagine insurance companies being too cooperative if they found that a trailer brake system circumvented safety braking systems. Also, I stumbled across this article, which states to use a diode to prevent back-feeding power into the vehicle from the trailer braking system. This is something I think should be installed if wire in at the pedal too. I only ever use 1N4007 diodes. I haven't found a practical use for smaller diodes when this one will do the trick too... Putting the dial in the centre console seemed like a no-brainer to me. I'd want to see what the trailer brake is doing while I'm driving, plus I think it needs to be easily reachable without fumbling blindly.
I had to make up a new bracket to mount the 50A breaker for the Anderson plug.
I've put the Tow Pro's 30A auto-reset breaker after the isolator breaker so that if the isolator is tripped, it'll disable ALL aftermarket electrics. It's highly unlikely to trip on it's own.
The Tow Pro mounted behind the glove box
The Tow Pro dial - actually dead straight but the pic doesn't do that justice
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